


I'm Lucky to Have Her

by disneyfan421



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen, Protective Oliver, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-17 22:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1405573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disneyfan421/pseuds/disneyfan421
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective Lance confronts the Arrow about why he broke his vow to kill the Count, Arrow admits that Felicity was in danger and Lance calls him out on his feelings for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He had heard the call on the police radio and almost couldn't believe what he had heard. He must have misheard or the investigators were wrong. He would probably get arrested if he went to investigate, but he had to see for himself, he had to know that the reports were wrong. He put the keys in the ignition of the police car and put his lights on, to hell with speed limits.

The two miles it took to reach the Queen Consolidated building was some of the fastest driving he had done in his entire police career but it still felt like an eternity before he reached the oversized building. Police cars surrounded the area directly outside, crime scene tape circled around a bright yellow car parallel parked next to the building and he was forced to park across from the scene. He stepped out of the car, surveying the area in front of him as he often did when he was on a case before walking towards the yellow crime scene tape. It was a mess to say the least: the car had been smashed by something, or more accurately, someone who was currently lying on top of the car, glass had scatter the streets and a glance up told him it was probably the broken window on one of the upper floors of the building. He would have simply assumed it had been a suicide had it not been for the three arrows protruding from the victim's chest, confirming any suspicion of who the culprit was. So much for trying something new he thought with a sinking feeling.

"Lance," he heard his name and turned to his right where the voice had come from, "What the hell do you think you're doing here?" The stern voice of his superior officer interrupted his thoughts.

"I heard the call on the radio and came to see if I could help." It wasn't an outright lie. He had heard the call, but his desire to be here stemmed from wanting to be proven wrong about the vigilante; to believe that he had not actually placed his trust in the wrong side of the law. The scene in front of him seemed to say otherwise.

"Do you honestly think that I would let you work this case? After what happened last time?" The man looked incredulous. "You were working with this guy Quentin, how am I supposed to believe that you won't sabotage evidence when my back is turned?" Lance glanced at the crime scene, seeing the man sprawled on top of the car, the arrows buried in his chest. How had he ever thought that this guy was a hero, someone worth defending him? A small voice in the back of his mind told him that there was probably a reason behind it, but a larger part was reminding him that this wasn't the first time he had ever killed. It was only the first time since he had said he was done with killing.

"Look, I don't expect you to trust me, but let me at least talk to the witnesses. You can be there the whole time and…" He started.

"Out of the question Lance" His supervisor interrupted, "And if you continue to push me I will arrest you for obstruction, again. Or do I need to remind you of the dollmaker case?" The sternness in his voice told Lance he was serious and he didn't need another arrest under his belt. He was dangerously close to losing his job as it was, it was better not to risk it at all. Of course working with the vigilante was jeopardizing his role as a police officer but that hadn't stopped him yet.

He put his arms up in surrender, complying with his boss's wishes, "Alright, I'll back off."

"Good, now go home, get some rest. I'll see you in the office tomorrow." The man turned and headed towards the crime scene, barking orders to the crime unit currently analyzing the scene. He took another moment to scan the scene: the man in question who he finally recognized as the man who had threatened the D.A. before the vigilante had stepped in. Count Vertigo, the drug lord who had plagued the city with the addictive substance for almost a year. A small part of him held no remorse for the man, but a larger portion was angry that he, like many others, was not facing the real justice system, but some other person's twisted version.

He turned around, heading back to his squad car, but not before noticing a flash of blonde being escorted out of the Queen Consolidated building. He thought nothing of it as he got in his car and headed home. The only thing he could think of was that whatever hero the vigilante had tried to be, that man was gone now.

He stood on the rooftop of the building where he always met the vigilante when they needed to discuss something. Silently waiting and wondering if it had been a mistake to not alert the police of the meeting. He obviously was not the hero he had claimed to be a few days earlier, letting true justice run its course instead of taking the law into his own hands. But Lance couldn't shake the feeling that something about this instance had been different, that there was some reason behind the death of the psychotic drug lord.

"I wasn't sure you would come." He heard the deep voice behind him and turned abruptly. How the hell did he manage to sneak up on people like that?

"Well I'm here aren't I?" He replied impatiently. The longer he spent up here the worse he felt about it, like he was somehow betraying his duty as a cop by being with a man that seemed to support everything he was against.

"I need to talk to you about Sebastian Blood." He said, clearly ignoring any hostility that Lance might have had for him.

"The alderman? What do you want to do? Find his location so you can kill him like you did the Count?" He asked bitterly, noting the way the vigilante's fists clenched at the mention of the count, apparently he had struck a nerve. Not wanting to quit while he was ahead, Lance continued, "What happened? I thought you were trying something different, that you were going to let us do the punishment from now on." He could feel the anger boiling up inside him. He had known going in not to ever put his faith in this man, but somewhere down the road he had started to trust him.

"The situation was complicated" the vigilante commented, turning away from Lance and seeming to be, regretful? That was not something he had expected: anger, impatience towards Lance for bringing it up to begin with, but certainly not remorse.

Lance snorted, "Care to explain what was so complicated about the situation because I have been doing my damndest to think of any explanation and I can't." It was true; he had spent the better part of the week wondering what had pushed him to the breaking point when nothing else had. "What made him worse than Mathis or any of the other people that you haven't killed since you came back?" The others Lance could understand sparing. But Mathis was a completely different story. He was a psychopath who had killed innocent girls, he almost killed Laurel. Mathis he could have understood. And yet he had lived up to his word, refusing to kill any of them. What had made some crazed drug lord any worse than the others? "Better yet, if you wanted to kill him, why didn't you do it the first time you took him down? Or the second or the third? What made this time so different?" He had spared him before the drastic change and once after the change when he had saved the D.A. The more he had thought about it, the more convinced he was that something had happened in the office building that provoked him to break whatever oath he had made.

The vigilante remained quiet for a moment, seeming to take in everything that he was saying. The silence seemed to last for an eternity before he finally spoke, so soft that Lance could barely hear him: "He had Felicity."

Visions of a blonde being escorted from the scene flashed before his mind and it was as if the puzzle pieces had fallen into place. The blonde that had been so determined to protect him, even at her own expense. The girl that had stood up and told him that while she had had doubts initially, that the vigilante was a hero for giving up everything that he did to help the city. "He took her?" The vigilante nodded and he couldn't see his face but he was sure that there was fear and sorrow underneath the mask that he wore.

"She was investigating something for me, a break in the vertigo case, and he found her." His voice seemed to break at the last point, seeming to relive whatever had happened in the offices that forced him to kill. "He was going to kill her and I reacted." Lance couldn't even bring himself to blame him, hell, he understood. If Laurel had been in the same position he would have done anything to protect her. The thought of Laurel in that position made him think about the implications of the actions in this moment compared to all the others. The fact that others had been in danger and he had still kept his promise led Lance to a realization that he hadn't expected to learn when the vigilante had first called him to meet.

"You love her, don't you." It wasn't a question because he already knew the answer. The fact that he had broken his vow for her and no one else was enough of an answer. Still, he had never thought that the chip in the vigilante's armor was a brilliant, blonde, and sometimes awkward IT girl.

"The life that I lead detective, I don't have the luxury of being with someone that I care about." Felicity's words about sacrifice had repeated over and over in his head, but it was only now he truly understood the implications. How much this man was willing to sacrifice for the good of people he didn't even know.

"She's lucky to have you." He said and somewhere deep down, he hoped that they would find a way to make it work.

He shook his head, "That's where your wrong detective. I'm lucky to have her." And before Lance could respond he was gone.


	2. I'm Lucky to Have Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Felicity is attacked outside the nightclub, Detective Lance wants to make sure that she is okay.

It was almost 12:30 at night and all he wanted to do was get home and sleep. It was moments like these that reminded him how much he hated being a beat cop instead of a detective. His days had consisted of parking tickets and arresting the occasional delinquent, which felt like nothing compared to being a detective. It certainly didn't help that being a beat cop prevented him from looking in to Hilton's death. A feeling of guilt swept over him at the thought. It was his fault that his partner had died, his fault that Hilton's family wouldn't spend Christmas with their father.

He was startled from his thoughts by the static on his radio: "Incident outside Verdant, blonde woman, mid-twenties, saved by the vigilante." He was going to ignore it. His shift was just about to end and the club was a few miles out of the way, but the description made him freeze. Two possibilities of the women in question had crossed his mind and both of them made him nervous. Sarah had proven fully capable of herself and would not need rescuing, that much was clear. Still, Sarah was his daughter and he constantly feared for her safety, especially after she had disappeared. The other option wasn't much better and made him seriously consider driving over to the club. He and Felicity hadn't been incredibly close ever but since his discussion with the Hood he had grown more protective of the blonde IT girl that had won over the man's heart. He shook his head, Starling City had a huge population and blonde was not exactly a hard hair color to come by. And yet…

With a heavy sigh he picked up his radio, if it wasn't either of them he would just go home and let some other officer handle it. "This is Officer Lance. Do we have the name of the victim?"

"Lance?" When he confirmed the man on the other end continued: "Yeah we do, name is Felicity Smoak. She's an employee of Queen Consolidated." He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in and leaned back against the headrest, letting his hands fall to his sides.

"Lance? Do you copy?"

He took another deep breath before lifting the radio, "I copy. I'm heading over now." In the back of his mind he knew it was pointless. If the Hood had saved her there was no use checking up on her but he knew that it would make him feel better to see her. Plus the Hood would probably appreciate him checking up on her when he couldn't.

"Copy that" came through the radio and Lance shifted gears, making a u-turn and heading to the club.

Police sirens and light traffic given the late hour put him in front of the club in less than fifteen minutes. The strobe lights he was accustomed to seeing out front had been toned down and only a few club goers were still present, all of whom were talking to the officers, probably giving statements. He ignored all the other people and headed straight for the blonde off to the right talking to several police officers and…

"Oliver Queen? What the hell are you doing here?" His tone was full of surprise and a bit of anger. What was he doing here and more importantly, why was his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

The young man barely registered him, keeping his full attention on Felicity who had a blanket wrapped around her and a hand on her shoulder. "This is my club detective, or did you forget that?" He asked, finally turning his attention away from Felicity and towards him. "And Felicity is my assistant at Queen Consolidated. When I heard she was attacked outside my club I wanted to make sure she was alright." Queen turned his attention back to Felicity and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. The gesture made Lance clench his fists but what made it worse was the way Felicity seemed to lean into him more at the gesture. Felicity worked for a man who loved her so much he was willing to back off to risk her life and she seemed to be smitten with Oliver Queen.

"If you can think of anything else Ms. Smoak, please don't hesitate to call." The officer said, handing her a small card and turning to Lance, "I'll see you soon Lance." And then the man was gone, leaving them standing in front of the club.

"Are you sure you're okay Felicity?" Queen asked, turning her towards him and seeming to examine her to make sure she was not physically hurt. When his onceover was complete he pulled his gaze back up to her eyes, genuine concern filled them and Lance was taken aback by it. This wasn't the playboy smirk that he was accustomed to, this was real and it was almost unnerving.

"I'm fine. Nothing a Doctor Who marathon won't fix" she gave him a small smile that lingered as she turned towards him. "Officer Lance, is everything okay?"

He stared at the pair for a moment and feeling sorry for the Hood who was going to lose his girl to Oliver Queen of all people. "I should be asking you that Ms. Smoak." When she didn't respond he continued, "I heard you were attacked and came to make sure that you were okay." He sent Oliver a warning glare before turning his attention back to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Or, I will be." She said, stealing a glance at Oliver, "I got lucky." The way she was speaking he wasn't sure if she was referring to Queen or the Hood but he hoped it the latter. They all stood there for a moment completely silent. Lance kept waiting for Felicity to say she wanted to go home or for Queen to leave them, neither of which happened.

"Listen, you've had a long night Felicity, let me take you home." Queen's voice broke the silence and seemed to snap everyone back to reality. The words sunk in a moment later and Lance was immediately shaking his head. "That won't be necessary Mr. Queen, I can do that." He added quickly, wanting nothing more than to keep Felicity and Queen apart, for the sake of the Hood.

"It's okay detective, I'll make sure she makes it home safe." Oliver insisted. The arm that was wrapped around her shoulder drifted towards her waist, like he was trying to emphasize his point.

"All due respect Mr. Queen," he levelled the man, refusing to break eye contact as he continued. "I am a police officer and it is my duty to ensure that Ms. Smoak arrives home safely."

The two men held each other's gazes for a few seconds and when it appeared neither was willing to back down Felicity let out a cough. "It's alright Oliver, I'll let you know when I'm home." Oliver turned towards her, defeat clear on his face.

"Are you sure?" Again, the amount of concern he showed surprised Lance. He had never seen him that concerned over anyone in the time that he had known him, not even after his surprising return. There was no one in the city she would be safer with than him, except the Hood, and since the Hood had pulled a disappearing act the moment the police arrived, Lance seemed like the best possible solution.

"She'll be fine Mr. Queen." Lance cut in and Felicity nodded confirmation. With a sigh Oliver finally relinquished his hold on her, allowing her to walk with the detective towards his car.

The silence and curiosity over the genuine concern was killing Lance, prompting him to question it as he held the door open for the blonde. "So you and Queen, huh?"

The blonde seemed taken aback by his question, shaking her head adamantly, "No, Oliver, he's my boss. We're just friends." She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than him.

He shook his head, "Listen. He's different since he got back, but he's still the same playboy he was when he left. Just, be careful, especially considering your other lifestyle." He tried to convince himself that he was advising more to protect her than anything else and that was at least partially true. Here was this girl who sacrificed a large part of her life to helping save people, she was too good for some playboy, no matter how genuine he seemed.

"Trust me Officer Lance there is nothing to worry about. Oliver and I, it's not going to happen." Her tone implied truthfulness, but he detected the slightest hint of sorrow. He shook his head, "Whatever you say Ms. Smoak."

The ride to her apartment was quiet after that, only broken by her instructions to the apartment. He barely registered what she was saying, thinking of how the Hood would handle watching the woman he loved falling for someone else. If it would break him and he would disappear like he did after the quake. The thoughts continued until he pulled up to her apartment complex.

"Thanks" she said with a small smile, "I really appreciate it."

"Just doing my job," he said with a smile. "Can't imagine what are mutual friend would do if something happened to you twice in one night."

Felicity let out a sigh, "Yeah, I was lucky he was nearby." Lance kept his expression neutral but he had a feeling he knew exactly why the Hood was nearby and it had nothing to do with luck.

"Right." She nodded and started to get out of the car and he felt compelled to say something, "Ms. Smoak." She turned her attention towards him, a curious expression on her face.

"I know it's not my place to say but you deserve better than Oliver Queen. With everything you do, you deserve someone who is willing to make the same sacrifices you do." He could swear he saw the faintest hint of a smile forming on her lips but it was gone a second later.

"Are you telling me to stay away from the nice safe office job so I can be near the dangerous Arrow job?" She shook her head, "Both of them do good, just in different ways."

"I'm just saying, be careful." He gave her a serious look and she nodded in agreement. "He doesn't know how lucky he is to have you, the Hood, Arrow, whatever name he goes by these days."

Felicity shook her head, "Yeah well, I'm lucky to have him too." And with that she walked into her building.

NOW I'm done with this one. :) I hope you liked it! Comments are loved!


End file.
